Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

Posts Categorized: Facebook

Facebook trumpeted this week the deletion of hundreds of pages and accounts run by the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-linked troll army that has sought to meddle in U.S. politics. But of the five examples of deleted accounts Facebook provided the public, CNN has found, two had links to the troll army that should have been… Read more »

Facebook’s latest privacy scandal, involving Trump campaign consultants who allegedly stole data on tens of millions of users in order to influence elections, has some people reconsidering their relationship status with the social network. There’s just one problem: There isn’t much of anywhere else to go. Source: CBC News Date: March 22nd, 2018 Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/breaking-up-facebook-1.4586508 Discussion 1) “For… Read more »

Facebook users who are worried about protecting their personal information in the wake of the alleged privacy breach by Cambridge Analytica have a few options at their disposal. The U.K. data firm has denied any wrongdoing and Facebook has said that, while none of the information leaked was the result of a data breach, it… Read more »

A Facebook executive disclosed that the company wasn’t yet sure how to put in place Zuckerberg’s latest major directive: shifting the company’s metrics so that “meaningful interactions” are valued over likes and clicks, a response to the misinformation and reports about the harms of social media that drew attention last year. Source: Washington Post Date: March 1st,… Read more »

Earlier this month, Facebook announced it would be using facial recognition to let users know every time a photo of them had been uploaded to the site. Such a feature would be extremely useful to one man – public-relations professional Jonathan Hirshon, who has managed to stay anonymous online for the past 20 years. He has more… Read more »

China has been smart and ruthless in its control of the internet within its borders. It blocks some foreign sites altogether and it censors – heavily – what Chinese are allowed to see. Nonetheless the big idea at this gathering is openness. There wasn’t much openness about the “great firewall” that keeps out Twitter, Facebook, Google and… Read more »

Facebook launched a feature called Town Hall, and it could be a game changer. The social media giant apparently recognizes the enormous impact it has on politics in the U.S., and decided to make it easier for you to contact your representatives. Source: TheBestStuffOnline Date: November 27th, 2017 Link: http://www.thebeststuffonline.net/this-new-feature-might-be-the-best-thing-facebook-has-ever-done/ Discussion 1) How might you put this future to… Read more »

As many as 126 million Americans may have seen content uploaded to Facebook by Russia-based operatives since 2015. That’s nearly half of the 270 million Americans who are old enough to be allowed a Facebook profile. The figure comes from the social network itself, which along with Google and Twitter, is preparing for a Senate hearing where… Read more »

IN 2010, FOURSQUARE cofounder Naveen Selvadurai believed that his company, and several other social-media upstarts—Twitter, Tumblr, Path—could carve out successful niches against Facebook. But Facebook had other plans. That year the company introduced a feature that allowed users to “check in” at any location, Source: Wired Magazine Date: October 27th, 2017 Link: https://www.wired.com/story/facebooks-aggressive-moves-on-startups-threaten-innovation/ Discussion 1) “It’s really fun to work” on consumer Internet… Read more »

The use of American companies to push Russian propaganda goes beyond social media sites like Facebook. Russians also used American internet services to keep their websites up and hide their true owners, according to internet records and two executives at internet routing companies interviewed by CNN. Source: CNN Technology News Date: October 26th, 2017 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/25/media/itl-green-floid-cloudflare-russian-sites/index.html Discussion 1)… Read more »